NEW YORK STREET PHOTOGRAPHY

It was no accident I ended my first year of full-time travel in New York City. Growing up in the US, it seems every other movie we watch or song we listen to is about New York.

Big brands put their flagship stores in Manhattan, every New Year we watch the ball drop in Times Square, entrepreneurs and artists flock here for opportunities.

STREET PHOTOGRAPHERS WORSHIP THIS CITY

UPPER MANHATTAN

Let’s start where I live(d). Even if you’ve never spent time in NYC, you’ll know living in this city is ridiculously difficult to navigate. Extremely old buildings, noise, malevolent landlords, competition for apartments, six-flight walk-ups, etc.

I don’t know how, but I seem to have won the NYC apartment lottery. My landlords are great, I have a washer/dryer, I’m 5 blocks from the 1, 25 minutes from SOHO and all the excitement, a block or two from Riverside Park, and my room looks out at the Washington Bridge.

I still travel full-time and I won’t do NYC in the winter, but it feels like where I’ll always come back to. At least as long as I remain in the US. I’m grateful for this neighborhood. It’s everything I ever wanted living in NYC to be, so forgive me if I seem a bit obsessed.

NYC AFTER DARK

new york city street photography couple kissing under umbrella in times square

The best photo I took in 2023…

“Ruined” by Times Square

Okay, I know it’s a bit ridiculous to complain about a photo from Times Sq. being ruined by billboards.

I’m still a big fan of this one, but if you’d have given me this couple kissing in the rain under an umbrella, backlit by colored lights in New York City ANYWHERE else that didn’t have an ad for some holiday sale in the background, I likely would have crowned this one my favorite of 2023.

FILM 🎞️

FILM 🎞️

new york city on film kodak gold canon af35
new york city on film kodak gold canon af35

NEW YORK CITY ON FILM

Kodak Gold, hopes, dreams

NYC STREET PHOTOGRAPHY IN THE RAIN

Iconic spots. Rainy days. For the record, I suffered for these. 🌧️

One of the few complaints I have about New York City is the weather. If it’s not hot and damp it’s windy, if it’s not windy it’s freezing, if it’s not freezing it’s raining, if it’s not raining, it’s at least cloudy. I’m only exaggerating a little.

The nice thing about street photography in New York though, is how weather conditions can transform the city. It’s fun to shoot anywhere when it’s raining and the streets are damp and shiny, but in true New York fashion, this city in the rain is a whole different level of street photography euphoria.

It also makes you cherish the nice days and sunsets when you have them.

NEW YORK SUNSETS

On the other hand, you have those rare occasions when the sun DOES come out, and New York starts to glow in the afternoon light like it was designed specifically with photographers in mind.

EXPERIMENTS

new york street photography experiments, black and white with slow shutter speed

Every now and then street photography gets boring.

Well honestly, not NEW YORK STREET PHOTOGRAPHY, but it’s still good to play with new ideas and get out of your comfort zone a bit.

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